Hiatal Hernia

What is Happening

Chest pain after eating is commonly caused by acid from your stomach backflowing into your throat. The tissue in your throat isn’t designed to withstand acid, hence the burning sensation we call heartburn after eating. This is usually a problem of too little acid causing gas producing bacteria and undigested food to build up in the stomach, which I’ll get into in a future post. We have seen great success relieving this kind of chest pain by treating a sliding hiatal hernia, which is when the upper part of the stomach slides up through the diaphragm (your breathing muscle) and causes acid reflux.

What the Treatment Entails

We will feel your stomach and apply downward pressure while you breathe to help it slide down out of your diaphragm. It normally takes 3-5 breaths to correctly reposition the stomach. If the stomach feels inflamed, pressure is modified to avoid excessive discomfort. Patients usually see significant improvement after one treatment, but some cases require a few visits to completely resolve.

Lifestyle recommendations will be given if your doctor suspects multiple factors are contributing to your reflux.

For more information

https://www.health.harvard.edu/digestive-health/9-ways-to-relieve-acid-reflux-without-medication

General Info on Non-Cardiac Chest Pain

Prevalence of various causes of non-cardiac chest pain https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3093002/

For an in depth explanation of the mechanisms of reflux

Physiology, Lower Esophageal Sphincter - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf (nih.gov)

Photo by Sakuna Thongkum